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Bill, Jackson, and The Hallo-Wiener (Click photo to enlarge.)
Not to forget a Halloween essential at our house, we just had to pull out The Hallo-Wiener. Although some of the adult (um…make that adolescent) humor goes right over a 3-year-old’s head, there’s still plenty of emotion and story in the illustrations and text to envelop a little tyke’s heart.
But, for the adolescent humor…here are examples of lines that crack me up every time.
*** When Oscar (the Hallo-Wiener) went off to obedience school, his mother stood in the front doorway waving and calling out to him, “Farewell, my little Vienna sausage!” With the other dogs watching. (Poor, poor Oscar.)
*** When Oscar was feeling bad he was “looking quite frank.”
*** And, my favorite…when Oscar got in trouble at school, he had to write on the blackboard 100-or-so times, “I will not sniff my neighbor. I will not sniff my neighbor. I will not sniff…..” (You probably need to “be there” reading this book to fully appreciate this last excerpt!)
When The Hallo-Wiener was first published, School Library Journal reviewed it proclaiming, “This may be the funniest Halloween story ever written, and it’s definitely got the most lovable hero.” My sentiments, exactly.
Enjoy. And, Happy Halloween (er).
Tags: Hallo-wiener
Marion Gunderson Art (and the Farmer's Daughter) 
October 30, 2009 at 7:51 pm |
I love little Oscar!
October 31, 2009 at 9:07 am |
Soooo cute. I want to read the book now!
October 31, 2009 at 9:18 am |
haha! thanks for sharing. have a happy halloween!
October 31, 2009 at 7:09 pm |
I would love a copy of that book! Happy hallo-wiener
November 2, 2009 at 10:53 am |
Just had to chuckle…and pass your post on to Alisa. I chuckled over the discipline of writing on the board “I will not sniff my neighbor”. She works part-time at a group home in OH (one more year of school/student teaching in special educ) with four special needs adults. One of the residents has the habit of sniffing everything. Other staff warned her that he sometimes comes up behind and sniffs your back. Alisa is not a huggy/touchy kind of person, so I wondered how she felt about this. She says it’s a bit uncomfortable, but it’s just what he does. She was glad she had the heads up on it the first time.